Midwestern State begins its quest for a third consecutive South Central Regional title Saturday night against St. Mary's (Texas).
 
The Mustangs claimed their sixth Lone Star Conference postseason tournament title last weekend in Allen, Texas, while the Rattlers rolled to wins over Newman (Kan.) and Arkansas-Fort Smith in Laredo.
 
The winner moves on to face the winner of Saturday night's first round matchup between Washburn and Northwest Missouri.
 
Midwestern and St. Mary's tip off at 6 p.m.
 
WHERE TO FIND THE GAME
 
100.9 BOB-FM – The broadcast features the play-by-play voice of two-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Bill Powers. The Taco Casa Pregame Show begins at 5:45 p.m.
ON THE WEB – BOB-FM's audio broadcast simulcasts on BOBRadio.fm.  LINK
LIVE STATS – Live stats are available courtesy of the Midwestern State Athletic Communications Office.  LINK
 
ABOUT THE SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
 
The South Central Regional features six teams ranked in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25 and will be held at historic D.L. Ligon Coliseum for the third time since Midwestern State made the jump to NCAA Division II prior to the 1996-97 season.
 
Midwestern State hosted its first regional in 1999 when the then-Indians fell to Truman in the semifinal round. MSU returned a vengeance win 2010 when the Mustangs rolled to wins over Incarnate Word, Tarleton State and Central Missouri to earn its first NCAA Division II Elite Eight berth.
 
The stacked regional bracket includes No. 5 MSU, No. 9 Tarleton State, No. 15 Arkansas Tech, No. 19 Washburn (Kan.), No. 21 Northwest Missouri and No. 23 Missouri Southern as well as West Texas A&M and Heartland Conference champion St. Mary's.
 
Saturday's first round matchups include Arkansas Tech (24-5) against West Texas A&M (19-8) at noon, Tarleton State (26-5) against Missouri Southern (22-7) at 2:30 p.m., Midwestern State (26-3) vs. St. Mary's (19-8) at 6 p.m. and Washburn (24-7) against Northwest Missouri (22-6) at 8:30 p.m.
 
The winners move on to Sunday's semifinal round with the winners over the Arkansas Tech/West Texas A&M and Tarleton State/Missouri Southern games meeting at 5 p.m. and the victors of the Midwestern State/St. Mary's and Washburn/Northwest Missouri matchups at 7:30 p.m.
 
The championship game is set for Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
 
The winner advances to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight from March 21-24 at the Bank of Kentucky Central on the campus of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky.
 
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
 
Midwestern State begins its quest for a third consecutive South Central Region championship Saturday night against St. Mary's at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The Mustangs would be just the second team to accomplish a South Central three-peat since the NCAA Division II region was formed in 1975 as Southeast Missouri State titles in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
 
MSU is making its 22^nd postseason appearance and has posted a 30-32 all-time mark while making 15 NAIA National Tournament appearances and six NCAA Division II postseason showings.
 
The Mustangs moved up one spot to No. 5 in the NABC Division II Poll which matches their highest ranking this season. It marks the second time in three seasons that MSU has carried a Top 5 ranking into the postseason as it stood at No. 3 in 2010.
 
The Mustangs are one of only 10 teams to appear in each of the last four NCAA Division postseason brackets joining Seattle Pacific (8), Humboldt State (7), Florida Southern (5), Kentucky Wesleyan (5), Bellarmine (4), Indiana (Pa.) (4), Massachusetts-Lowell (4), Metropolitan State (4) and Stonehill (4).
 
Midwestern has won 107 games since the start of the 2008-09 season which is tied for the second most in all of NCAA Division II behind current No. 1 West Liberty (W. Va.) – 114 wins. Bellarmine and Findlay also have won 107 contests.
 
MSU stormed to its sixth Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament behind MVP David Terrell, who scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds to along with five steals and two blocked shots in a 57-51 win over Tarleton State.
 
Senior guard Kevin Loyd knocked down three clutch 3-pointers to close with 11 points against the Texans.
 
Junior guard JaMichael Rivers and senior guard Michael Loyd were also named to the LSC all-tournament team.
 
ABOUT THE RATTLERS
 
St. Mary's rolls into the NCAA Division II South Central Regional having seven of its last eight including an 84-70 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith last Saturday in Laredo.
 
The Rattlers are led by Daktronics All-South Central Region second-team performer Kevin Kotzur.
 
The 6-8 junior averages 17.9 points and 8.7 rebounds a game while shooting an impressive 66.2 percent from the field.
 
Kotzur has notched 10 double-doubles this season while scoring 20-or-more points on 11 occasions including a season high of 31 points and 14 rebounds against Missouri Western on Nov. 26, 2011.
 
Senior guard Lamb Autrey adds 12.2 points and 3.7 assists in 23 games this season, while junior guard Daryell Taylor scores 11.2 points and 2.7 rebounds a contest.
 
Junior guard Moses Sundufu (9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds) and senior post Ray Marshall (7.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) are the only other Rattlers averaging more than 20 minutes a game.
 
The Rattlers are 5-1 against Lone Star Conference competition this season including two wins over Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Kingsville and a split with Angelo State.
 
St. Mary's Jim Zeleznak has compiled a 115-83 record (.581) in now his seventh season at the helm of the Rattlers.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
 
Midwestern State meets St. Mary's (Texas) for the 28th time on the hardwood Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The Rattlers own a slim 14-13 edge in the series which dates back to the 1974-75 season.
 
Saturday's meeting will mark the second postseason match up for MSU and STMU. Midwestern claimed a 65-60 win over the Rattlers in the 1975 NAIA national semifinals in Kansas City.
 
The Mustangs have won five of the last six meetings in the series including an 89-71 victory on Nov. 28, 2009 in San Antonio.
 
MSU controls a 10-3 edge against St.Mary's in games played at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.